Kaleidoscope of Death

Lin Qiushi was very surprised at the fact that Luo Qianshui wasn't human. But observing the expressions of Ruan Nanzhu and Cheng Yixie, there didn't seem to be too much consternation on their faces, as if they were already used to seeing such things.

Ruan Nanzhu returned next to them and said, "I talked to them for a while, no big deal, Luo Qianshui was in trouble at another gate."

Lin Qiushi looked at him and said, "This kind of thing is common?"

Ruan Nan Candle faintly said, "Naturally, it's uncommon."

Lin Qiushi: "But why is it still okay for Luo Qianshui to die at the other gates..."

But Ruan Nanzhu interrupted Lin Qiushi, his tone actually contained a bit of ice, as if he didn't want Lin Qiushi to dwell on this matter, it was best not to even ask questions, he said, "This matter is not important - at least not in this door. "

Lin Qiushi could only nod at the words, although he felt that Ruan Nanzhu's attitude was a bit strange at this time, but there was nothing wrong with Ruan Nanzhu's words, Luo Qianshui's matter indeed had nothing to do with this door.

After confirming Luo Qianshui's identity, Ruan Nan Candle agreed to work with them and began discussing how to find the key at night.

Ruan Nan Candle said, "We can't all enter the house, you two wait outside."

Lin Qiushi disagreed with Ruan Nan Candle's suggestion: "I think it's better if I go." He paused for a moment to voice his inner thoughts, "After all, it's still unclear whether Luo Qianshan and Luo Qianshui are enemies or friends, if I encounter anything inside, you can also lend a helping hand."

But if Ruan Nanzhu encountered a situation in the house, I'm afraid both he and Cheng Yixie would be helpless.

Ruan Nanzhu recited for a moment, appearing a little hesitant.

Cheng Yixie said faintly, "Brother Ruan, you can't protect Qiushi for the rest of your life."

Lin Qiushi was slightly stunned at the words, he always felt that Cheng Yixie had something to say and turned his head to look at him.

Ruan Nan Candle's face was expressionless: "How do you know I can't?"

Cheng Yicher didn't speak.

The atmosphere between them was a bit stiff, Lin Qiushi had to say, "Nan Candle, let me go, it's fine."

Ruan Nan Candle's fingers tapped on the table and finally agreed to Lin Qiushi's plan, deciding that he alone would enter the house to get the key while he and Cheng Yicher would guard Luo Qianshan and Luo Qianshui outside to prevent any accidents.

However, in just a few days, the entire team died seventy-eight times.

What made this door different from the other doors was that without props, you couldn't even tell if the person next to you was dead or alive, and it was possible that the person you were sleeping with in the same bed might even have been dead for several days.

Around 3pm, Nguyen Nan Candle discussed some more details about getting the key with Luo Chien San and the others.

"At that time, I will enter the mirror and draw the mother and son away from the doorway, which will take about five minutes." Luo Qianshui seemed to have accepted the fact of her death quite openly long ago, as she calmly narrated, "So your time limit is five minutes, you must leave that room within five minutes."

"Mm." Ruan Nan Candle said, "Have you guys found the door yet?"

"Not yet." Ever since Ruan Nan Candle had picked up on the fact that Luo Qianshui was dead in the morning, Luo Qianshan's face had lost that polite gentleness and replaced it with an indifference that he no longer bothered to disguise as he said, "But it must be on the thirty-fourth floor."

Ruan Nan Candle pondered something.

"What about you guys, who are you going to send in?" Luo Qianshan asked.

"I'll go." Lin Qiushi spoke out the outcome of their discussion.

"You're going? Who decides that? Your friend?" Hearing Lin Qiushi's reply, Luo Qianshan's gaze shifted to Ruan Nan Candle.

Lin Qiushi said, "No, I was the one who wanted to go." He said, "Is there a problem?"

Luo Qianshan was slightly surprised at Lin Qiushi's answer, and yes, who would actively put themselves in danger, something else appeared in his eyes, "You're not afraid?"

Lin Qiushi said, "What are you afraid of?"

Luo Qianshan laughed: "Naturally, I'm afraid of death."

Lin Qiushi was a bit surprised by his question: "No one is afraid of death, right."

Luo Qianshan shook his head, "No, you are the one who has never met anyone who is truly afraid of death."

Those who were truly afraid of death would instead be defeated by fear, some would even make irreversible actions out of fear when they entered the first door, of course Luo Qianshan didn't bother to talk to Lin Qiushi about these things, he just intuitively felt that there was something special about the person called Yu Linlin in front of him.

So this matter was settled, and the five of them waited quietly for the night to come.

At eight o'clock in the evening, that thick smell of burning stench began to appear above the corridor again.

Lin Qiushi and the others arrived above the corridor as promised and saw Luo Qianshan and Luo Qianshui who were already waiting there.

Luo Qianshan raised his hand and looked at his watch: "At eight forty Luo Qianshui will enter the mirror to distract them, at eight forty-five you must come out from inside, the key is hanging on the wall at the very center of the room, it's easy to find."

Ruan Nan Candle: "This is what Luo Qianshui saw inside the mirror?"

Luo Qianshan looked at Ruan Nan Candle and nodded his head.

As expected, their previous statement was lying, the door wasn't open at all, and the only reason the siblings could see where the key was was because Luo Qianshui could travel inside the mirror.

Three minutes before eight forty, Ruan Nan Candle handed a blood red bracelet to Lin Qiushi.

He didn't say anything, so Lin Qiushi tacitly took the bracelet and put it on his wrist.

"With life safety as the first goal." Ruan Nan Candle's voice was soft, "If you really can't get it, forget it, it must come out."

Lin Qiushi nodded.

Tick tock, eight forty arrived, Luo Qianshui turned and walked into the mirror beside her, Lin Qiushi noticed that there seemed to be a red thread tied around her wrist, connecting her body to Luo Qianshan's.

The charred mother and daughter who were standing quietly at the end of the corridor also reacted, they looked at the mirror at their side and really turned into the mirror at their side just as Luo Qianshui had said.

Lin Qiushi drew his legs and ran, rushing as fast as he could to the outside of the charred room at the end.

The strong smell of burning filled his nose and mouth, and he covered his mouth and nose with a wet towel with one hand, pulling open the already burned and deformed door with the other.

The room in front of us no longer looked like it did during the day at all.

The entire house was black, both the furniture and the walls were distorted and black from the heat, but what was out of place with the entire house was the mirrors that were hanging everywhere.

The mirrors were still intact and almost every corner was shrouded in mirrors.

Lin Qiushi didn't dare to waste any time and quickly walked into the room, his eyes searching the room, trying to find the wall with the key hanging from Luo Qianshan's mouth.

Lin Qiushi didn't even find it until he entered the bedroom located on the left side of the room, and he found what he was looking for.

"Fuck." After seeing the scene inside the bedroom, Lin Qiushi seldom cursed out a swear word.

Only to see that the bedroom's modest walls were actually filled with densely packed keys, and each of these keys looked exactly the same - exactly the bronze key used to open the door.

At first glance, there were definitely a hundred or two hundred of them.

Lin Qiushi looked up at his watch, he still had three and a half minutes left - how was he going to find the one he wanted from among these hundreds of keys? Lin Qiushi's forehead spilled a bit of sweat as he forced himself to calm down.

"Clack..." however, just as Lin Qiushi was thinking, the sound of a mirror being tapped suddenly came from behind him, Lin Qiushi turned around and actually saw a human figure inside the mirror behind himself, although he had changed his clothes and half of his body was charred black, Lin Qiushi still recognized from his looks that this person was the waiter in this hotel.

He was standing in the mirror, staring at Lin Qiushi with resentful eyes.

This gaze was so terrifying that Lin Qiushi involuntarily took a step back.

"Click, click, click..." the man in the mirror began to hit the mirror in front of him with his hands so hard that obvious cracks began to appear on the top of the mirror, looking as if it might shatter at any moment.

The man walked to the edge of the mirror and stuck his half charred face to the mirror, mumbling curse-like words.

Lin Qiushi saw the man's eyes.

What was out of place with the man's ugly face was his black eyes. Those eyes were like rippling lake water, reflecting a dark light.

Lin Qiushi looked into his eyes and suddenly became a little trance-like, as if he heard a woman's cry and a child's howl.

There were curses from men, and the sound of mirrors being broken.

"You go away, you go away, and you don't come back." The woman said so, "I hate you, I hate you-"

"You hate me, by what right do you hate me." The man said, "What are you!"

"Ahhhh!!!" Something shattered, and red fire sprang out of it.

The woman let out a miserable scream, yet as the mirror shattered, the scream grew faint and inaudible.

So did the cries of children, who seemed to have been robbed of their ability to scream by something...no, perhaps taken directly from their lives.

Then there was the sound of wretched footsteps slamming out of the door.

In a trance, Lin Qiushi felt as if the image had moved to another place, he saw a huge mirror, which reflected the man's appearance, and just as the man turned around and fled in disgrace, a pair of scorched black hands slowly reached out from the corner of the mirror, grabbed the man's feet, and pulled him hard into the mirror.

When Lin Qiushi saw this, he suddenly felt his wrist tingling, and he looked astonished, only to find that he had actually reached the mirror, and if he took another step forward, he would be stuck with the mirror.

And on the other side of the mirror was the man with the malicious look in his eyes.

"Cough cough cough." Lin Qiushi coughed a few times and finally broke free from the illusion, lifting his wrist to look at his watch. 8:44 - he only had a minute left!

Key, key, key, which one was the real key.

At this moment, Lin Qiushi had the illusion that he was really in the middle of a flame. And yet, Lin Qiushi's keen hearing caught a series of slight footsteps coming from inside the mirror... The time was almost up, the mother and son were coming back!

The crisis situation, instead, made Lin Qiushi's mind clearer, and the three words of the clue came to his mind: using the copper mirror as a mirror, he could straighten his clothes and crown; using history as a mirror, he could know the rise and fall; using people as mirrors, he could understand the gains and losses.

The bronze mirror was found, and so was the history mirror, so what about the remaining mirror?

What exactly does it mean to mirror people, and what is gain or loss?

As Lin Qiushi looked at the man in the mirror, he suddenly remembered what Ruan Nan Candle had said, Ruan Nan Candle said that doors had rules, meaning that newcomers hadn't died, and thus usually didn't set up a situation where they would die.

So did the man trapped in the mirror in front of him have another purpose?

Lin Qiushi walked up to the man and began to observe the man's appearance.

The man stood in the mirror, his black eyes resentful, and Lin Qiushi stared at his eyes and suddenly noticed something - a small scene was reflected in the man's eyes.

That sight wasn't a reflection of the scene in the house, but a completely different image.

It was a small bedside table, on top of which was a group photo belonging to a family of three, and at this moment, Lin Qiushi suddenly realized.

He turned around and ran towards the bedside, using his hands to flip open the charred family photo, and beneath the family photo was a beautiful bronze key.

Lin Qiushi finally understood what the word gain or loss really meant.

There was only a few moments left, so Lin Qiushi grabbed the key and turned around, not daring to stop.

Five seconds, four seconds, three seconds... When Lin Qiushi saw the door, he looked happy, however, as soon as he put a smile on his cheeks, he froze as two figures appeared at the door.

A tall one and a short one, the tall one was holding the short one and was already charred black, the tall one was holding the child with one hand, the other hand was actually holding the door of the room, showing a twisted smile to Lin Qiushi.

The room door was about to be closed - Lin Qiushi's brain reacted extremely quickly, and with a flick of his hand, he threw the key right out of the doorway.

Immediately there was a click and the door heavily fell locked.

Lin Qiushi fell to his knees and coughed loudly.

The temperature in the room began to rise sharply, and along with the thick smoke, Lin Qiushi felt his consciousness gradually draining away, and he clearly realized that he seemed to be dying.

In the face of death, Lin Qiushi's heart was in an unspeakable calm, his cheek pressed against the floor as he looked at the charred black walls, and countless scenarios flashed through his head like a horse race.

There was his, there was Chestnut's, there was his friend's, and there was... Ruan Nan Candle's.

The Ruan Nan Candle in the walking lantern can be really pretty, Lin Qiushi felt quite useless before closing his eyes, this is almost dead, and there's still a man in his head....

Darkness enveloped Lin Qiushi, and he felt his body soften.

........

Drip, drip, was the sound of water dripping.

Lin Qiushi felt a violent thirst, he opened his mouth slightly and managed to spit out one word, "Water..."

Then something wet and soft brushed gently over his lips, and Lin Qiushi slowly opened his eyes, his eyes feeling a faint light.

"Awake?" There was a voice coming.

Lin Qiushi coughed violently several times, and he finally saw the person sitting in front of him, it was Cheng Yixie.

In Cheng Yixie's hand was a cotton swab with water on it.

"Yi-xie?" Lin Qiushi was a bit confused when he saw him, "Am I, am I not dead?" He still remembered the images he had before he passed out.

In theory, being in that scenario was how he was bound to die.

"I'm Chisato." The other innocent one in the twins opened his big eyes, "Akashi, I can't believe he didn't recognize me, all he could think about was my brother."

Lin Qiushi: ".......Why is it that something that's obviously quite normal has changed in your mouth?

"I'm out?" Lin Qiushi felt pain all over his body, and even his voice was exceptionally weak, "I thought I was dead..."

"Not dead." Cheng Qianli said, "Brother Ruan only almost died."

Lin Qiushi was stunned and immediately sat up from the bed, "What?!"

Cheng Qianli: "Well... it's fine now, don't worry, as long as we don't die directly, with our body's ability to recover, we'll be fine soon."

Lin Qiushi: "No no no, how could something happen to Nan Candle?" He remembered that he had thrown out the key before he came out ah.

Cheng Qianli: "Then I don't know, he's still unconscious."

Lin Qiushi rubbed his head: "How long have I been out?"

Cheng Qianli: "Two days."

Lin Qiushi exhaled, "Where's your brother? All right?"

"Nothing." Cheng Qianli said, "He'll come over at noon, so ask him yourself what you want to ask."

Lin Qiushi nodded his head, indicating that he knew.

At noon, Cheng Yixie, who was delivering food to Cheng Qianli, appeared at the hospital.

"Awake?" Cheng Yixie said, "How are you feeling."

Lin Qiushi lay on the bed and looked at the drip tied on his hand, "Not bad, what's wrong with me?"

Cheng Yixie said, "Just like Ruan, he lost too much blood."

Lin Qiushi oh-said. Even though he had lost too much blood, Lin Qiushi didn't feel any pain in his body, in fact, other than that intense feeling of weakness, there was no other difference.

"Is Nan Candle alright?" Lin Qiushi was still worried about him, "How the hell did I get out..."

Cheng Yixie said, "He's fine, he should be able to leave the hospital after a few days of recuperation." He paused for a moment and whispered, "It was Ruan who reopened the door again and rescued you."

"Reopened the door?" Lin Qiushi said, "But wasn't that mother and daughter guarding the door?"

Cheng Yixie: "It's a long story."

Lin Qiushi: "Then tell it slowly, I'm not in a hurry anyway."

Cheng Yixie nodded and described the thrilling scene in concise words. After seeing the mother and daughter come back early to close the door, Ruan Nan Candle went directly insane, he didn't hesitate to pull out his weapon to restrain Luo Qianshan, forcing Luo Qianshui to enter the mirror once more, and rushed into the door to save Lin Qiushi after distracting the mother and daughter again.

At that time, the entire corridor was burning, and Ruan Nanzhu, who returned with Lin Qiushi in his arms, almost became a fireman, with half of his skin burned.

Fortunately, such an injury was inside the door, otherwise the person might have been lost.

After that, the fire started to spread and they found the door to get out before they were burned to death, using the key to leave that world.

Of course, because of Ruan Nanzhu's actions, their partnership with Luo Qianshan's siblings also broke down, and Cheng Yicher was very disdainful of this, saying that there were no eternal friends inside the door, only eternal interests.

Lin Qiushi smiled after hearing this and asked, "Then will we be friends forever?"

Cheng Yixie was slightly stunned at the news, then her expressionless face showed some helplessness, then nodded her head very lightly.

Lin Qiushi had the feeling that he was teasing a child and laughed.

Around the end of the evening, Ruan Nan Candle also woke up. Although he had the same symptoms as Lin Qiushi, which was massive blood loss, he did have traumatic wounds on his body, those wounds looked like they had been cut with a mirror, and the doctor had asked if he should call the police.

Lin Qiushi was pushed by Cheng Yixie in a wheelchair and went to see Ruan Nam Candle.

Ruan Nan Candle was lying on the bed, her beautiful face without a trace of blood, with oxygen stuck between her nose, and she looked like her entire body was in extreme weakness. But those black eyes were frighteningly bright, like a night sky filled with stars, giving people the feeling that their souls were also sucked in.

Lin Qiushi called his name: "Nan Candle."

Ruan Nan Candle's lips moved slightly and softly hmmed.

Lin Qiushi said, "Thank you." He felt a little inappropriate after saying this again, all great kindness is never thanked, if it wasn't for Ruan Nan Candle, he might not have been able to get out of the door. Outside the door now, he might have jumped from the building, or used some other method of death.

"It should be me who thanks you." Ruan Nan Candle's voice was soft, like a feather floating in the air.

Lin Qiushi said, "Don't talk, rest well and wait for your discharge." Ruan Nan Candle was too weak now, and even a few words had exhausted her strength.

Lin Qiushi's gaze shifted to Ruan Nan Candle's hands, Ruan Nan Candle's hands were beautiful, the fingers were fair and long, and when they were placed weakly on the side of the bed, you could see the angular veins and bones on them. But then these beautiful hands were wrapped in bandages, which seemed to be just a microcosm of the wounds on Ruan Nan Candle's body, it was hard to imagine how many of these wounds were hidden underneath Ruan Nan Candle's hospital gown.

Lin Qiushi restrained his gaze and let Cheng Yixie push him out of the hospital room.

Behind him, Ruan Nan Candle was breathing evenly and seemed to have fallen asleep again.

Lin Qiushi listened at the door for a while and suddenly spoke in a low voice, he said, "Is it worth it?"

Cheng Yixie stood behind Lin Qiushi, and even though the words were endless, he still understood what Lin Qiushi meant.

He said, "As long as he's willing, it's worth it."

Lin Qiushi smiled, "Also right."

"Let's go." Cheng Yicher said, "You should also take care of your health and try to get better as soon as possible."

Lin Qiushi nodded and was pushed back to the ward by Cheng Yixie.